By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
The government officially launched a research and educational center Monday that combines four existing offices working with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
A senior official for the new center told The Korea Times that the government is aiming to streamline operations and boost efficiency by bringing the four separate offices under one roof.
The OECD-Korea Policy Center combines the regional center for tax policy and administration, the center for competition, the center for health and social policy and the government innovation center.
The official launching follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last month between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan and OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria.
Chey Kee-jo, director of operations and planning office at the center, said the center will focus on educating non-OECD member nations as well as conducting policy research. ``The main function would be to help disseminate and spread best policy practices and knowledge from OECD countries to non-member, developing countries."
``In addition to educating non-member countries, we will also work with other OECD countries in developing and creating new policies," Chey said.
The new center will work closely with a number of ministries and government offices. They include the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Fair Trade Commission, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family, as well as the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Seoul-based center has 21 full-time staff, with an annual budget of around 2 billion won, Chey said. ``When we had four separate offices, there were some overlapping areas. But now, we are hoping to optimize our operations and boost efficiency. And we are looking to increase synergy by merging these offices."
He said the center would organize and sponsor some 20 workshops and conferences annually. Participants include government policy experts from Asian countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and China as well as a number of Central Asian nations."
The OECD includes 23 European countries as well as Korea, Australia, Turkey, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, the United States and Japan. South Korea became an OECD member in 1996.